Rob Zombie has made a name for himself on the fringes of horror cinema as a writer and director; that name is not often synonymous with “quality filmmaking” though, and since his Texas Chain Saw Massacre-inspired House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie has struggled to find footing in a genre that has seemingly been passing him by. But give it to the man for persevering by heading in a different direction for his latest film, The Munsters, which serves as a more family-friendly prequel film to the original TV series. Quite honestly, The Munsters‘ aesthetic does seem to fit into Zombie’s wheelhouse, when he’s not focusing on redneck characters who have hankerin’ for cussin’; his horror rockabilly elements were clearly inspired by this generation of hokey horror, and it was difficult to write off the fact that Zombie might have found his calling in a more kid-friendly Halloween goth subgenre.
Then came The Munsters trailer, which undoubtedly horrified a bunch of fans and curious onlookers alike. The film looked cheap, poorly acted, and dreadfully unfunny, led by Zombie’s wife Sheri Moon Zombie as a Lily that may have just come down with some neurological illness due to her inability to put her hands down. The storyline, too, seemed stretched – a prequel that only stars 2/3 of the main cast of The Munsters? Where was Eddie, where was Marilyn?
And now, we have the full experience, nearly two hours (109 minutes if I’m being fair) of Zombie’s take on The Munsters. Early reviews have been less than kind to this “inspired” piece of filmmaking, but I do feel like they’re all being a bit harsh. Zombie’s Munsters isn’t absolutely horrid; it’s not unwatchable, at least for some experienced filmgoers with a lot of schlock under their belt. But it’s also not a fun experience, and that’s probably the harshest criticism that Zombie can receive for his film. Ultimately, The Munsters was a goofy sitcom and it had some really dumb humor, but at its heart it was always entertaining for 20 minute chunks. Here, not only is Zombie’s Munsters not entertaining, it also overstays its welcome by a wide margin; there’s a reason The Munsters kept it short and simple, because the antics can only go on for so long.
Zombie’s script is also barely held together with tape and glue. Within this prequel about how Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips) was created and met Lily, we also have an overarching storyline about a woman attempting to seize Grandpa’s (Daniel Roebuck) castle in Transylvania. The problem is that neither are very interesting, and both sort of get abandoned along the way in favor of antics and a trip to Paris for Herman and Lily’s honeymoon, which is an attempt to convey the Munsters vacation elements. Zombie knows the lore and the Easter eggs (we get voiceovers from original Munsters cast members, movie clips of famous horror icons, Cassandra Peterson in an ode to Elvira) but not how to accomplish the overall feel of the TV series.
With that said, the lighting and set design is actually pretty good, in a “Halloween episode of a cheap sitcom” sort of way. All of the locale settings look like sets instead of real locations, but the lurid green and purple lighting throughout the film adds a sort of charm that Halloween fanatics and Hot Topic goths should love (and I mean that with respect). Most often The Munsters looks like someone’s extremely elaborate haunted house, and that’s not exactly a bad thing for the subject matter.
Most of the cast is pretty good in their roles as well. While Phillips can never hit the booming thunder of Fred Gwynne’s Herman, he certainly does pull off a number of the physical shticks. Roebuck hits Grandpa right on the head, and probably the most authentic to the original that we’ll get. However, it’s Sheri Moon Zombie that drags everything way, way down, and one wonders how her fellow costars were able to get through scenes with her doing… whatever she’s doing here. Moon Zombie is a painful reminder that not even good actors can save scenes with bad ones, and unfortunately, she’s in almost every scene (even at one point playing a different character!).
We’ve gone on way too long about The Munsters, probably more than it deserves, but I’ll bookend this review by saying again that The Munsters isn’t obscenely awful. It may be far too long, have poor acting, cheap set design, and a number of other problems, but it’s watchable. But what isn’t acceptable is that it’s absolutely not a fun or interesting watch in the way that recent revivals like Hotel Transylvania or The Addams Family cartoons can be; those have all done this idea far better, without the need for a questionable gay joke quietly thrown in for the adults.
Blu-ray
Universal Studios has released The Munsters on Blu-ray in conjunction with its Netflix streaming release, which always bodes well for a film… Anyway, this collector’s edition release looks pretty sharp on Blu-ray with a detailed HD scan that highlights both the good and bad of Zombie’s cinematography: the good being the lighting effects, which are in full effect on this release and maintain good delineation in darker sequences, and the bad being that it exposes the cheap set locations. Also of note is the grain scale, which is kept to a minimum for much of the film but does feature in exterior sequences (I suppose an intentional effect). Overall, this is a good Blu-ray transfer, but it’s hard to say how many people will want to actually purchase the movie when a free stream is the safer option.
Featured audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English track, which sounds very good with no noticeable audio or dialogue drops. The music is prominent and the few actual songs (including one where Sheri Moon Zombie sings) utilizes the channels to full effect. Low-end rumble is an occasional occurrence. A DTS 5.1 Spanish track is provided as well. Also included are English subtitles for the hard of hearing, plus Spanish and French.
The extras seem lacking on first glance, but this release includes both a full audio commentary from Zombie and an hour-long making-of featurette that dives into many details of production and behind-the-scenes looks. Zombie’s commentary is particularly interesting, since he goes into a lot of his inspirations for the movie, Easter eggs and reasons for some of his choices in the direction, and a lot of other information that adds context to the movie and may actually make it more entertaining. The hour-long featurette has a lot of behind-the-scenes footage and makeup tests, and although it’s kind of haphazardly put together, it goes over the entire filming process and adds additional info about this production.
Extra Features
- NEW Audio commentary with Director/Writer/Producer Rob Zombie
- The Munsters: Return To Mockingbird Lane (1080p; 1:01:52)
- Optional English SDH, French European, Latin American Spanish subtitles
Verdict
The Munsters is not going to win over any fans, since it doesn’t get any better than the trailer suggests; however, for fans of Halloween-infused movies or those that want to experience Rob Zombie’s vision at least once, this Blu-ray may be of interest to those that would find value in Zombie’s commentary and inspirations.
